Dynaudio Updates Excite Series

Shown in Tom Norton’s photo are the Platinum versions of Dynaudio’s Confidence C2 floorstander ($15,000, left) and C1 stand-mount (middle)loudspeakers in the new Platinum trim, which I had seen and heard at 2013 shows. But I was more interested in the news that the Excite 12 loudspeaker, which has been a reference for Bob Reina since he reviewed it in March 2010, has been replaced by the Excite X14 ($1500/pair). My photo wasn’t usable, unfortunately, but I auditioned the X14s in a system comprising the Octave V40 SE 45Wpc, tube integrated amplifier ($5300), T+A DAC S8 ($3250), with Amarra running on a MacBook, Dynaudio Stand 3X stands ($350/pair), and in-akustik Reference interconnects and speaker cables, and was impressed by what I heard.

I visited this room on the last day at the Show and, to my surprise, it was the first room in which I heard a track from Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories album. On both “Lose Yourself to Dance” and a track from James Blake, the diminutive Dynaudios produced a surprisingly high level of well-controlled low frequencies. The Excite X14 is on Bob Reina’s reviewing schedule. The new Excite X34 floorstander costs $3400/pair.